


The Dog Days Are...Starting

by luckyrockyjunior



Category: Gorilla Interrupted (2003), RedLetterMedia RPF
Genre: Cuddling, Dogs, Friendship/Love, Living Together, M/M, Misunderstandings, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 13:34:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29190102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luckyrockyjunior/pseuds/luckyrockyjunior
Summary: The slight sound of Sid singing under his breath drifted over and Dex, reassured it wasn’t a robber, settled back to go to sleep. That was until he heard a noise that was distinctly not Sid. A bark rang through the apartment and Dex’s eyes flew open as he sat up to look at their bedroom door. (Sid brings home a dog and some arguments, misunderstandings, and eventual happy moments occur)
Relationships: Sid/Dex
Kudos: 6





	The Dog Days Are...Starting

**Author's Note:**

> writing for these two is always a joy for me and a great way to pass time, if you came here for great dog content I'm really sorry that I didn't write much for the dog! anyways, enjoy this clunky story of two idiots, hopefully I got their character voices kind of ok! I write Dex way more confrontational and Sid way more nice so they may be pretty ooc

Something about confronting the devil himself and experiencing the tortuous wasteland of Hell made Dex want to make some changes in his life. He wanted to move out of his dad’s basement and sell some patents, maybe to finally get enough money to go to one of those prestigious colleges that he dreamed of going to. He wanted to travel at some point in his life and see the world and experience whatever was out there that he’d been shielding himself from while he acted like a recluse in his old basement. 

Except along the way some plans had changed and it looked like he wouldn’t be doing all of this alone. 

Sid had been freeloading at friends' places for half a year about. He’d had an apartment, but doing punk shows at crappy disgusting bars a few nights a week didn’t exactly get the bills paid. He’d spent many nights in his drummer’s basement but since Grigg got obliterated with an alien laser, Sid was kind of running out of places to stay. He was hesitant to always stay at Dex’s place because he’d never actually told Dex he was basically homeless. Sid secretly really valued Dex’s opinion of him and didn’t want Dex to see him for the failure he usually thought he was. 

He was over at Dex’s place shortly after their Hell escapade. That night saw them both drinking together and watching some shitty cable television action movies. They’d gotten closer since their shared experience but both pretended not to notice. Nothing much had really changed, just that they were a little less mean to each other and hung out more. Dex spoke up after some car exploded on screen and started wildly babbling about his plans for his life now, definitely more of a lightweight than Sid.

“I just, I gotta get out. I can get an apartment ‘n I can sell some shit, I don’t know, maybe I’ll move to California! I could invent somethin’ that will prevent earthquakes, I’ll be their leader then!” Dex was saying most of this as if it was a joke, but his eyes twinkled with the thought of being successful and doing something with his life. Sid was watching him, smiling and feeling a little loose from the alcohol too, maybe that's why it took a second for a great thought to pop into his head.

“Wait! Wait, I got it,” Sid half shouted, leaning towards Dex on the couch they were sharing and excitedly grabbing his knee, “We could live together! Let’s get an apartment, there’s cheap ones around here. You could do your sciency shit and I can play some shows! Two ways of making money, we could do it!” 

Dex took a second to respond, too captivated by the manic gleam in Sid’s eye to think of a response for a while. Soon, his brain finally caught back up with him, or however much it could come to him in his currently inebriated state, and a big smile broke out on his face. 

“Ha, yeah! Two incomes, that could work. We could get an apartment, no more of this stupid basement, just the two of us!” Dex, even through the haze of alcohol, cringed when he heard these sappy words coming out of his mouth. Not that he didn’t mean every word he said, but it just felt to– to romantic to say. Of course, all this worry melted away when he saw the happiness on Sid’s face when he heard this. Dex had his suspicions that were basically confirmed now that Sid didn’t have a home right now. Sid might’ve thought he’d hidden it well from Dex, but subtlety was not really the strong suite of Sid, and the duffel bag of what Dex suspected contained all of Sid’s belongings was sitting just a few feet away. Dex never brought it up, because obviously Sid was strangely a bit sensitive about it.

Both hadn’t been drunk enough that night to forget about their agreement that sharing an apartment made the most sense, and the next day they were gathered around Dex’s old laptop searching for nearby places. It took a few weeks, but they settled on a crappy one bedroom place nearby. It wasn’t in a good part of town, but that worked out perfect for Sid because it was close to all of the gross bars and clubs he played in. For Dex, it had a big enough living room that he was able to set up his lab in the corner of it. Their apartment opened right onto the street and their landlord was seemingly a very large dick (but that’s just any landlord), but they were happy. Currently, they were taking turns either sleeping on the apartment’s only bed or the lumpy couch they had. Tonight was Dex’s night to take the bed and be spared from the uncomfortable old couch. 

It was about 3 in the morning and Dex was fast asleep. He used to be more nocturnal, but since he’d started working part time at a movie theatre during the day and working on his projects once he got home he had started going to bed earlier than usual. Sid had found a part time job at the same theatre for about a week, but that was until he’d accused their boss of not paying them enough and being a soulless businessman. Needless to say, Sid was fired and Dex was narrowly able to keep his job despite being associated with him. Dex was pissed and didn’t talk to Sid for a few days except for occasionally yelling about he was the only one making money and that they would lose their place without another income.

To Sid’s credit, he’d applied for a few jobs and had an interview at a record store coming up soon. He’d also been trying to play a few more shows, which was where he was out to this night. 

Dex blearily shifted out of sleep when he heard a noise from outside the bedroom. The slight sound of Sid singing under his breath drifted over and Dex, reassured it wasn’t a robber, settled back to go to sleep. That was until he heard a noise that was distinctly not Sid. A bark rang through the apartment and Dex’s eyes flew open as he sat up to look at their bedroom door. 

“No, hey, shhh. Here, I got some beef jerky, just keep quiet ok?” Sid whispered from outside the bedroom door. He was talking to something, and judging by that bark, Dex had some idea what he was about to walk out to. 

Dex sat up and quickly threw on a shirt before opening the bedroom door. The sight he was confronted with was Sid, dressed up in his show appropriate punk gear, and a dog. The dog had no noticeable breed and looked in desperate need of a bath, the golden example of a clearly stray dog. Sid was pouring some water in a bowl and had a bag of beef jerky in his hand when he looked up to make eye contact with the sleep delirious Dex, who was simply staring at the pair.

“Sid?”

“Uh, yeah?”

Dex blinked the sleep out of his eyes and finally comprehended the dirty black and brown dog that was now panting and sitting beside Sid. His natural emotional response, confused anger, welled up.

“Sid why is there a dog here? Where did you get it? Does this place even allow pets, we’ll get kicked out! What are we supposed to do with it?” Dex had his hands up in front of him, not exactly shouting as loud as he could, but definitely shouting loud enough to make Sid jump and then scowl. 

“Oh fuck off, it’s just a dog mate. People beside us have one, we’re not getting kicked out, calm your worried ass down.” Sid turned his back on Dex to grab the bowl of water and set it down beside the dog, who had been curiously watching this heated exchange.

“That didn’t answer all of my questions Sid, where did you even find it? And why did you decide that the best thing for us is a dog? Why is it here?” Dex still had his voice raised, even more annoyed now that Sid was just trying to play this off as nothing. He hated when Sid acted like this, like he was being dramatic for being concerned over a completely reasonable thing. 

“He’s been in the alley behind Grotto’s for the past week, he’s not getting much to eat and he would’ve fucking starved out there. He’s the one who followed me home, what the fuck was I supposed to do? Send him back out there to die? Huh?” Sid looked legitimately angry now, which was surprisingly a rare expression for him and it kind of scared Dex. Sure, they still fought a lot and Sid was still never the nicest to Dex, but he was rarely upset and truly angry. Usually he was just defensive and mean while Dex made up for the anger. 

“If you want to get rid of him I’ll just move out and take him with me, I’m not taking him to a shelter Dex.” Sid said in a quieter voice. The dog was happily drinking from the bowl on the ground while Sid stood peering down at him. Dex was stunned for a bit, stunned that this was the thing that caused Sid to actually get angry and really have a fight with him. He swallowed and gazed at the floor during the uncomfortable bout of silence that had fallen over the room. 

“What’s uh, does it have a name?” Dex was beginning to realize that Sid was really serious and that he wasn’t getting rid of this random dog. He cared about that asshole and he didn’t want Sid to move out over this, this was just too stupid to make them break apart. 

Sid looked curiously at Dex after he asked this, then curiously down at the dog who was happily sitting and staring up at him. The dog let out a single bark and Sid grinned a bit. 

“Yeah sure, uh, his name’s Crusher.” Sid squatted down then, affectionately scratching the newly named Crusher behind the ears. “Yeah, you like that name? Pretty badass if you ask me!” Sid directed this at Crusher who jumped up onto the squatting Sid, knocking him onto his back on the floor. He jumped onto Sid and excitedly licked his face while Sid chuckled.

Dex couldn’t stop the small smile that broke out onto his face watching the scene in front of him. This was the happiest and affectionate he’d seen Sid and it was doing something to Dex. The dog– or Crusher now, he guessed – was kind of cute. He was medium sized and skinny with short dirty fur, but he just looked so happy playing with Sid on the ground. 

Yeah, it looked to Dex like they had just added another member to their little household. 

Eventually Dex went back to the bedroom to get a few more hours of sleep and Sid took his spot on the couch with Crusher sleeping on the floor beside him. They’d decided to go to the pet store tomorrow and pick up some food and other supplies since they were now seemingly dog owners. Sid had also agreed to give Crusher a bath after Dex blatantly told him Crusher wasn’t allowed on the furniture until he was clean. A certain level of cleanliness still needed to be maintained. 

Dex lay awake for a while when he returned to the bed, thinking about how passionately angry Sid had gotten just a few minutes ago. He couldn’t remember the last time he had seen that amount of rage on Sid’s face, especially directed at him. He wasn’t even sure he could live on his own without someone, never had truly done it. If he had to let Sid keep his street mutt to keep him here, so be it. Dex wasn’t ready to be alone. 

The next morning Sid gave Crusher his bath, revealing that he was a nice black and brown speckled dog under all that mud. Sid got soaked in the process, but Crusher actually seemed to enjoy the water and splashed around while Sid tried to get all of the dirt off of him.

“I mean, he followed me home and didn’t have a leash, we could bring him to the pet store too.” Sid bargained with Dex, who was waiting by the door in his coat and shoes. They were going to leave to get the supplies, but Sid was hesitating to leave Crusher alone.

“Sid, we can’t have a dog off leash in a store, or on the street for that matter. Come on, he’ll be fine, he’s gonna have to be alone here sometime. We’ll hopefully both be working some of the day soon.” Dex bit that last part out a bit too meanly, but it did the trick and got Sid to get a move on.

“Ok, ok, fine,” Sid kneeled down to look at Crusher who was at his spot beside Sid’s feet, “Gonna be right back, ok buddy? Don’t worry, gonna go get you some food.” A little scratch behind the ear and then they were out the door taking the walk to the nearest pet store. Dex had noticed that even though he’d brought Crusher home less than 12 hours ago, Sid was happier today and less smug than usual. Seeing his concern for the little mutt and his affection towards him was making Dex feel a little something for Sid. He’d developed a kind of infatuation with Sid lately, and the way his carefree attitude brought him through life. He always told himself he just admired him for that, but now with these recent developments, Dex couldn’t help but notice how nice Sid’s smile was and how his hardened heart couldn’t bear to leave a dog on the streets. Of course, as soon as Dex let his mind stray to real human emotions he quickly pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind and tuned back into listening to Sid ramble on about his last show beside him. 

Sid was still talking about an asshole at his show who got into a fight with the bartender when they got to the store. Standing in front of the food section, Dex tried not to look at the prices and how this was going to cost them to raise a dog, but didn’t voice that concern when he saw Sid staring at the prices too. He picked up a bag of the cheaper food and dropped it in the cart they’d grabbed. 

The mood improved when they were staring at a display of dog collars and leashes, pointing at ones and saying, “Well what about that one?” Dex pointed at a studded black collar and asked if that was the one, only to be met with laughter from Sid.

“What? It looks cool.” Dex said defensively, not able to keep a smile off his face when he looked over at Sid.

“Sure it is mate, but that's cliche! What, just because I dress like this I need to have a dog with a studded collar?”

“You’re the one that named him Crusher! It would fit his name!”

“Yeah but that doesn’t fit the little guy, how about something like this?” Sid said, leaning over to pick up a dark green collar with little white flowers on it. Dex laughed and was surprised when Sid looked over at him a bit hurt.

“You don’t like it?”

“No no, it’s fine, just– didn’t think that’s what you’d pick out.” 

Sid huffed. “Flowers are punk too idiot.”

They arrived back home, Sid a little out of breath for carrying the bag of food the whole way back. Crusher jumped up from the cozy couch spot he was laying in and charged the both of them, jumping on Sid and barking excitedly. Dex stumbled back a bit in fright because Crusher could probably knock him over with that excited jumping, but he reached out to tentatively scratch Crusher’s head when he’d settled down a bit and was just standing beside them wagging his tail. 

“See, the collar suits him! Look at ‘im, me and him match with the green now.” Sid said to Dex. They were sitting on the couch watching some old sitcom reruns while Crusher slept peacefully on the floor by them, worn out from playing tug of war with Sid.

Dex chuckled a bit, leaning against the arm of the couch. “Yeah, sure, you’re right Sid.”

“Hey um, Dex?” Sid said quietly, still looking down at the peaceful little dog.

“Yeah?”

“Just uh, thanks for, letting me keep him or whatever. It- it means a lot I guess.” Sid still wasn’t making eye contact and Dex was just looking at him, mildly confused from this thank you Sid had just gifted him. 

“Oh yeah– it’s nothing, I mean, you paid for the stuff anyway so–” Dex cut himself off before he could say something even stupider than that. Sid just chuckled, seemingly not very mad at that strange comment.

“Yeah, that’s obviously what matters most.” From Sid’s tone, Dex could hear that this obviously wasn’t a bait to start a fight, but Dex took it as one anyway.

“What’s that supposed to mean, do you think I’m that money driven and heartless? I’m the one keeping us in this apartment right now!” He internally cursed himself out for starting another pointless fight over a basically harmless Sid comment, and felt horrible when Sid looked up at him, not angry, but hurt.

“Wow, fucking forget it, I was just trying to be fucking nice for once but now your just gonna drag me for not having a job mate? Maybe I do think you're heartless, what reason have you given to say you're not?” Sid minutely scooched away from Dex on the couch, resting his head on his arm propped up on the couch arm. Crusher was still snoozing peacefully unaware on the floor between them.

“You can’t be nice without throwing in some sarcastic comment! God, what did you even want me to say back to you, that I just like seeing you happy? That’s the only real reason I let you keep that mutt, god you’re impossible.”

Sid looked at Dex in stunned silence while Dex angrily picked at some loose threads on the couch. Both of them had matching blushes right now and neither seemed to know what there was to say next. 

And then Sid broke into loud laughter.

Dex whipped his head over to look at him with a scowl on his face, looking at Sid hunched over laughing and wiping his eyes as if this was the funniest thing in the world.

“I’m sorry Dex, this is just the funniest thing in the world!” Dex’s scowl deepened to superhuman levels, and Crusher finally perked up at the loud laughter to look at the pair of them on the couch.

“Yeah, it’s the funniest thing in the world,” Dex said sarcastically, “fuck you Sid, I’m done with this.” Dex made a move to get up but Sid reached out to snatch his wrist. 

“No no, don’t go Dex, ‘m sorry. It’s just funny that you got so angry that you admitted you like seeing me happy! Mate, why didn’t you just say that in the first place?”

Dex tried to rip his wrist out of Sid’s grip but the punk held on tight. “Because I knew you were gonna make fun of me! You always do this! I can’t say one serious thing to you.” Dex said, shouting this now at Sid. Crusher was now standing and looked about ready to jump on one of them, seeming a bit uneasy watching the slight yelling match going on. Or, the one sided yelling match. 

“I’m not doing that Dex, I just was surprised to think you thought of me that way. Kind of thought you were just keeping me around to pay my half of the rent.” Sid let go of Dex’s wrist with that remark. He was still smirking, but Dex finally noticed the vulnerability behind it. Clearly, Sid did think Dex had a low opinion of him. 

Dex sat back down beside Sid, finally realizing how ridiculous he had been. What reasons had he given Sid to make him think Dex cared about him, other than letting him keep this dog?

“Sid– Sid I don’t keep you around for that. I mean yeah, financially this situation is ideal for both of us, but no. I mean, yeah I like you. A lot actually, and Crusher makes you happy and your right, we shouldn’t send him to a shelter. So uh, yeah I guess, I guess I’m happy if you're happy.” 

A small smile that looked truly genuine appeared on Sid’s face. Crusher was excitedly wagging his tail beside the couch and Sid reached out to scratch behind his ears.

“Thanks Dex.” 

Sid cleared his throat and peeked over at Dex before directing his gaze at the dog in front of him. 

“I uh, you should know I like you too. A lot. And yeah I want you to be happy too, makes me feel good.” 

Dex grinned at Sid, sincerely touched at that admission from the hardened guy beside him. He glanced over at the clock under the TV that was still playing shitty sitcom reruns and realized that it had gotten pretty late. Sid yawned beside him on the couch, seemingly feeling the tiring effects of the day. 

“Hey uh. Do you want to, like, sleep in the bed tonight. Together I mean. It’s just, I don’t sleep well on this couch and neither do you and we could probably fit and–” Dex was cut off by a laugh from Sid, but it was more like a harmless chuckle this time. He looked over to see Sid was smiling and still petting the dog that was now jumped halfway in his lap, looking perfectly content.

“Yeah, sure, wanna head to bed then?” Dex nodded, and the two eventually made their way back and got ready to sleep. Dex was sitting under the blankets in a shirt and some pajama pants while Sid set out some more food for Crusher. He came over to crawl in beside Dex in a pair of shorts and a shirt while Crusher hopped up and laid near the end of the bed, where he had a clear view of both of them. Dex had to admit this dog was well trained, and was pretty cute. 

The bed was small enough that their shoulders were just about touching as the both of them stared at the ceiling in silence. Dex swallowed and decided he needed to break this silence.

“You can. Move closer if you want, that way we don’t fall off this bed during the night.” 

Sid didn’t say anything or chuckle this time, but he did scooch over a bit until their shoulders and sides were more pressed together. Dex let out a relieved sigh and turned over away from Sid, hoping he wouldn’t have to verbalize what he wanted. 

They’d always been kind of in tune with each other, despite the frequent fights and misunderstandings, at a basic level they had their own language. Dex was thinking about all of this when Sid wrapped himself around Dex’s back, giving Dex exactly what he wanted. 

Sid’s arm draped across Sid’s front and pulled him in closer to Sid’s back. Crusher had wiggled his way up to be sleeping closer to them but still near the end of the bed and was now snoozing quietly. 

“This what you wanted?” Sid said in a slightly smug way, pressing his smile against the back of Dex’s head while squeezing him just slightly.

Dex made a small murmur noise in approval, losing himself in the feeling of being held like that. In the morning and in the next few days, he knew they may have to talk about this. Things were changing, both having admitted today that they cared for the other in a way that felt like a love confession, and in reality probably was. But that was for the next few days. For now, this was perfect. Sid was eventually snoring slightly into Dex’s hair but was still holding Dex against him. Crusher slept peacefully, happy in his apparent newfound home. Dex smiled against the bed, tucking Sid’s arm around him like a blanket, and thought about his life. Sure, he had many plans for adventures, but now he had two people that he was gonna take along with him. He had never been happier.

**Author's Note:**

> fun fact I'm actually pretty scared of dogs, only medium and large dogs though. I'd like to think I would be ok with a dog like Crusher tho


End file.
